Away and (Dis)connection: Reconsidering the use of digital technologies in light of long-term outdoor activities

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

We present a study of long-term outdoor activities, based on altogether 34 interviews with 19 participants. Our goal was not only to explore these enjoyable experiences, but more broadly to examine how technology use was recontextualized 'away' from the everyday. Outdoor activities are commonly presented as an escape from our technology-infused world. In contrast, our interviews reveal experiences that are heavily dependent on technology, both digital and not. However, digital technology - and in particular the mobile phone - is reconfigured when taken out of its ordinary, often urban and indoor, context. We first present a diversity of 'aways' during outdoor activities by depicting cherished freedoms and interpersonal preferences. We then describe how participants managed connection and disconnection while away and upon coming back. To conclude, we discuss how constructions of away can support more purposeful engagements with digital technology, and how pointed (dis)connection can be useful for technology design also in non-outdoor settings.

Original languageEnglish
Article number230
JournalProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
Volume3
Issue numberGROUP
ISSN2573-0142
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2019
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank our interviewees for their time and perspectives. We also thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful and generous comments on the manuscript. This work has been supported by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research project RIT15-0046.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Copyright held by the owner/author(s). Publication rights licensed to ACM.

    Research areas

  • Away, Disconnection, Mobile phone, Nature, Non-use, Outdoors

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